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SLC looks to expand facilities for homeless

Posted at 10:08 PM, Sep 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-02 00:08:40-04

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City is looking to build more facilities like the Road Home, all aimed at helping the homeless.

"There are many different groups, reasons why people become homeless and for each of those reasons people need different types of help," said Elizabeth Buehler, Civic Engagement Manager for Salt Lake City.

The Road Home in Midvale is one of four stops the city made when looking at shelters to help them decide where new facilities should be built.

"So just to see, not only their design but best practices now for providing these emergency services," said Buehler.

The Road Home was recently rebuilt to help more families escape homelessness.   It partners with many groups to offer services like daycare, shared kitchen spaces big enough for volunteer groups to cook in and a warm place to sleep.

"There are a lot of great new programs, like the Road Homes' partnership with the Utah Community Action Program where they're actually now diverting families so they never even have to come into the shelter," said Buehler.

Many families are now being helped at the Road Home while a few families and mostly single men and women are being helped at the Rio Grande shelter in Salt Lake City.

"So Salt Lake City is finalizing the location of new resource centers in Salt Lake City and those are for single men and single women," said Buehler.

The new shelters will help the city target specific needs for specific groups. Salt Lake City will be asking for the public’s ideas for new locations in October.